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The Third Order of St. Francis is a third order within the Franciscan movement of the Catholic Church. It includes both congregations of vowed men and women and fraternities of men and women living standard lives in the world, usually married. A parallel Third Order of Saint Francis (TSSF) exists in the Anglican Communion, alongside the 'Society of St Francis' and 'Community of St Francis' (the First Order Franciscans), and the 'Community of St Clare' (the Second Order Franciscan Sisters). The Lutheran Church also has a Franciscan Order in the tradition of the Third Orders. It has been believed that the Third Order of St. Francis was the oldest of all Third Orders, but historical evidence does not support this. Similar institutions are found in documentation of some monastic orders in the 12th century. In addition, a Third Order has been found among the Humiliati, confirmed together with its rule by Innocent III in 1201.〔See text in Tiraboschi, "Vetera humiliatorum monumenta", II, Milan, 1767, 128.〕 ==Early history== The Third Order of St. Francis was, and still is, the best known and most widely distributed of the third orders and has the greatest influence. There are two major opinions of its origins. According to church historians (''Die Anfänge des Minoritenordens und der Bussbruderschaften''), Mandonnet, and others, the Secular Third Order is a survival of the original ideal of Francis of Assisi, viz. a lay confraternity of penitents. Prior to that, the Church influenced the development of the First and Second Orders of the Friars Minor and the Poor Clares from this. Another group of scholars believe that St. Francis' name became associated with pre-existing penitential lay-confraternities, without his having any special connection with or influence on them. Leading to a third school of thought, Thomas of Celano wrote, "The preaching of St. Francis, as well as his own living example and that of his first disciples, exercised such a powerful attraction on the people that many married men and women, even hermits, wanted to join the First or the Second Order. Thomas of Celano believed that the Third Order was first introduced in Florence, based on writings of Mariano of Florence, or Faenza, for which the first papal Bull (Potthast, "Regesta Pontificum", 6736) known on the subject is given. The ''Fioretti'' (ch. xvi) is not regarded as an authoritative source but it says that Cannara, a small town two hours' walk from Porziuncola, was the birthplace of the Third Order. Mariano and the Bull for Faenza (16 December 1221) suggest that 1221 was the earliest date for founding of the Third Order. Thomas of Celano wrote that the oldest preserved rule was dated 1221. This rule was published by P. Sabatier and H. Boehmer (see bibliography), and contained originally twelve chapters; a thirteenth was added under Pope Gregory IX (1227). It prescribes *simplicity in dress (Chapter 1), *considerable fasting and abstinence (Chapters 2-3), *the canonical office or other prayers instead (Chapters 4-5), *confession and communion thrice a year, and *forbids carrying arms or taking solemn oaths without necessity (Chapter 6); *every month the brothers and sisters have to assemble in a church designated by the ministers, and a religious has to give them an instruction (Chapter 7); *they also exercise the works of charity with their brothers (Chapter 8); *whenever a member dies the whole confraternity has to be present at the funeral and to pray for the departed (Chapter 9); *everyone has to make his last will three months after his reception; *dissensions among brothers and sisters or other persons are to be settled peaceably; *if any troubles arise with local authorities the ministers ought to act with the counsel of the bishop (Chapter 10). *No heretic or anyone suspected of heresy can be received, and women only with the consent of their husbands (Chapter 11); *the ministers have to denounce shortcomings to the visitor, who will punish the culprits; *every year two new ministers and a treasurer are to be elected; *no point of the rule obliges under pain of sin (Chapter 12). Because of the prohibition of arms and unnecessary oaths (Chapter 6), the followers of this rule came into conflict with local authorities, which customarily required men to carry arms for service in militias. Numerous papal Bulls were issued through the 13th century to safeguard the privileges of the Tertiaries (see list of these Bulls in Mandonnet, ''Les Règles,'' 146-47). Wadding (''Annales Min.'' ad a. 1321, n. 13) provides another, longer version of the rule. This is similar to one confirmed by Pope Nicholas IV through the Bull ''Supra montem'', 17 August 1289. This last form was long considered to be the personal work of St. Francis. In the 19th century, historian Karl Müller did not have any part in this. The rule published and approved by Pope Nicholas IV was substantially the same as the oldest 1221 text. with the oldest text of 1221, we see that they substantially agree. Golubovich (''Arch. Franc. Hist.,'' II, 1909, 20) documented that some Italian Tertiaries petitioned Nicholas IV for approval of this Rule. Guerrini (''Arch. Franc. Hist.,'' I, 1908, 544 sq.) proves that in the 13th century, there were Third Order Confraternities with quite different rules. Until Nicholas IV, no single Rule of the Third Order was generally observed, and there were versions of local characters. This was also true of the form of government of the confraternities. Beside their own officials, they had to have a visitor, who seems usually to have been appointed by the bishop. In 1247 Innocent IV ordered that the Friars Minor were to assume the direction of the Tertiaries in Italy and Sicily (Bull Franc., I, 464). By about twenty years later, in practice the Tertiaries directed the Friars. Nicholas IV introduced unity of rule and of direction into the Third Order, which was put under the care of the Friars Minor. By the 15th century, numerous individuals living under the Rule of the Third Order were living in small communities, many leading an eremetical life (cf. Celano). They had been living under the same rule as the married penitents who led more routine forms of life. A papal decree of 1447 organized the more isolated communities into a new and separate religious Order with its own Rule of Life. From that point, members were defined either as Third Order Regular (i.e., living under a ''Regula'' or "Rule"), or as the Third Order Secular, for those members of the Order who lived in the world. In the later centuries of the Franciscan movement, the Order of Regular Tertiaries was considered as equivalent to the friars of the First Order 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Third Order of Saint Francis」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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